‘Army’ to the rescue / P. 11
Peachy time at EV farm / P. 15
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
This Week
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
NEWS ....................... 3 Mesa ramps up food relief for residents.
13
Mesa artist finds inspiration in quarantine.
SPORTS .................. 20
Mesa jeweler: don’t be fooled by ‘gold’
COMMUNITY ................................... 14 BUSINESS ......................................... 16 OPINION .......................................... 18 PUZZLES .......................................... 21 CLASSIFIED ..................................... 21 Zone
Sunday, April 26, 2020
New Mesa schools head braces for big challenge
INSIDE
COMMUNITY ..........
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L
eading a public school system at any time is a challenge but for Mesa Public Schools’ new superintendent, the challenge is unprecedented The COVID-19 pandemic plunged the state’s largest district into a crisis, with campuses closed through the end of this school year, teachers losing contact with hundreds of students from low-income, unstable homes and hundreds of seniors thrown into a disappointing end to their high school careers. And while she says, “we’re very worried’’ – especially for the students the district has lost track of – Dr. Andi Fourlis seeks a silver lining of sorts in the dark cloud that the pandemic has cast over schools. Fourlis believes it could shake schools across the city and the country out of complacency and force them to address the needs of students in new, more meaningful ways. “I think we will come out stronger and more resilient than ever before,’’ Fourlis said, explaining that administrators are being forced
Dr. Andi Fourlis is becoming the new superintendent of Mesa Public Schools at a time when the pandemic's social and financial impact poses tough challenges for a district already facing some big problems to solve. (Pablo Robles/Tribune Staff
Photographer)
to “rethink school’’ and how schools will function in a post-pandemic world. “Re-thinking the true needs of our community and our students is long overdue,’’ she said. Fourlis was selected earlier this month by
the MPS Governing Board as the new superintendent. The board still must approve her contract after picking her from a lineup of
earlier this month, qualifies properties in the district for tax incentives designed to spur redevelopment. Despite the new cloud created by the pandemic-fueled recession, City Economic Development Director Bill Jabjiniak believes the three projects will get completed – when the economy recovers. “The uncertainty is probably the biggest issue. That causes people to hit pause,’’ he
said. “All indications are that the economy hit ‘pause’ and there will be a slow, steady comeback.’’ The Central Business District started with the Mesa Town Center in 1999 and gradually was expanded to the west, east and southwest in 2016 and 2017. It includes Main Street from the Tempe border to Gilbert Road, the length
see FOURLIS page 8
Pandemic slows Mesa’s central district rebirth
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
D
espite a setback from the COVID-19 recession, Mesa will continue its war on blight in the Central Business District one parcel at a time after renewing the sixsquare-mile area’s blighted designation for another 10 years. The designation, approved by City Council
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see BLIGHT page 4